1993 we got a couple feet of snow here in the Birmingham area. That wasn't fun, I can assure you that. Though it look beautiful in picture.
Freeze coming... what to do? Part Two
Okay Podster I was down by the pond with the dogs this morning and saw this....and I thought someone showed a picture of that in TX gardening at DG; I can actually find out what it is!! What exactly is it? Frostweed?
And then I noticed that you said it was at the base of the Pluchea odorata so once again, I wondered if it was the same plant that was growing at the pond. Is this the same plant? I thought maybe it was some sort of hemp agrimony but wasn't sure...the smell of this plant is very strong and it smells like B.O. to me!! LOL!! But the wasps an bees sure did love it!!
Yes, that's it! And what a gorgeous plant you have! http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54337/ Its' not called stinkweed for nothing. LOL
When temps freeze, the moisture in the stalks of some plants cause it to split and spew out the most unusual ice crystal formations. I was unaware of this till Frostweed showed photos of her Frostweed plants preforming this interesting phenomenon. Then, last fall I found the Lady in Red salvia did the same thing, splitting the stems. Apparently it is not uncommon in the plant kingdom... just uncommonly seen. Thanks to Frostweed for the inspiration to look and the education too!
I am so glad people are enjoying the observation of this plant behavior, I haven't seen any of my other plants do it, but i will be watching for it.
Allwild, that was a lovely ice formation you had there.
I think the Pluchea odorata is a very nice plant, one of them volunteered for me some years ago, but somehow it disappeared, it is not very common around here.
Josephine.
Thank you for the ID Podster and the compliments, although this plant started growing around the pond shortly after moving here (July). It began growing freely all around the property and by the end of the summer, we were definitely calling it "the stinkweed". Bet this is an unusual way to ID a plant too? LOL. Thanks to Frostweed and her inspirational education about this phenomenon!
Yes, Frostweed, I now see you have a thread about these interesting ice formations; they are very pretty and delicate looking! I also think the frostweed is a beautiful plant. Pluchea odorata does put on a nice show, which started here some time in July through the begining of Nov. and it was always full of wasps, bumble bees, bees, hoverflies and some butterflies too.
Christine
That is wonderful that you have so many of them, I think it is a lovely plant.
There are a few varieties of it that native to Texas. Check them out.
Pluchea camphorata; http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54337
Pluchea foetida; http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PLFO
Pluchea odorata; http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54337
Pluchea rosea; http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/56078
Pluchea sericea; http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PLSE
The Pluchea odorata is supposed to be an annual. I haven't seen anything that says it survives the winter if it doesn't get under a certain temp. Well, I've got something that looks like a Pluchea odorata but I'm pretty certain the plant has survived my winters where it may get to 20° (sometimes lower). So what is it?
Well, the Wildflower Center says Pluchea odorata is a perennial
http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PLODO
Pluchea camphorata, Annual
http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PLCA7
Pluchea foetida, Perennial
http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PLFO
Pluchea rosea, Perennial
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PLRO
Pluchea sericea, Perennial
http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PLSE
So only Pluchea camphorata is an annual.
Both the DG Plant File and my Enquist book said P. odorata was an annual. That's why I thought I might have something else. But good to know that it can be a perennial some places!
You know Linda, I wish the experts would agree on these things, but what really matters is if you like it and if it works for you, right?
But on further thought I see that it is native to a very large area of the U.S. so it could be an annual in the northern states, and perennial in the south.
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PLOD
Hi all, those Plucheas looks so lovely. It's not fair to show off these blooms on these hardy evergreen this time of year when everything outdoor is virtually baren. But, you may enjoy the pix anyway. This is the 'snowflakes' clusters of Fatsia japonica on the back of my garden.
The multibranches shrub:
So beautiful. Didn't even know they bloomed. I have tried several times to raise them and not been successful. May try once more as I have gained more knowledge through the many friends at DG. Thank you, Lilly.
Christi, what's so much more fun, is that these lovely flowers will make clusters of berries which birds love. What's more, those seeds are viable!!! I just discovered my first stray seedling after I've this plants for so many years. I'm so tickled.
Wonderful. Our second interest, other than the garden, is birds, which actually go hand in hand. We have several feeders and a fountain/bird bath near our windows in the sunroom. And many plants that make seed.
Currently we are overrun with black capped chickadees, yellow finch, blue jay, mockingbird, tufted titmouse, mourning dove, aztec dove, and white wing dove. Oh, and of course, the cardinals in pairs. They have almost become pets.
Christi
That is just wonderful Lily and Christi, birds are so much fun.
Yes, I have noticed many different birds forging about...many of them are migrating south I would imagine. Although the regulars are fluttering about too right now.
I've seen many new migrating birds at the feeder too. Titmouse left us sometime in the summer, they are now returning to feed with others. I'm so glad to see those back.
Well it has a been a bitterly cold day today. Have had the wood stove going since 9am. I finished putting my plants in the GH this am while it was still warmer and covered everybody else. We are under a winter advisory until 11am tomorrow. I will be going out soon to light the heater in the GH.
The plants loved spreading out and getting fresh air and sunshine over the weekend. They got a good watering too. They will get to come back out Thurs but then on Sunday it's supposed to get real cold again.
The birds have been voracious today. I had to fill the feeders twice today. I made a big batch of peanut butter, raisin and corn meal suet for them. They ate right through the other batch. I know it's going to be cold when the birds are in a feeding frenzy. The chirping sparrow, goldfinches, pine siskins, dove, nut hatches, chickadees and titmice go to bed early. It's a good thing because the cardinals don't like fighting the finches for seed. The cardinals are always the last to eat at night year round. They eat until after the sun sets.
I am sick of the wind. It can stop anytime now. It knocked over my budded brug twice Fri. I almost had a cow. I have waited a long time for these buds. If I lost them because of the wind, I'd be ticked. I finally surrounded the pot with heavy cans full of birdseed and moved it closer to the workshop.
Stay warm everybody.
I see one silver lining to all this cold weather we have been having......my peonies love it.
I thought this thread needed to be bumped up because it was 19 degrees when I took the kids to school. One of the water troughs is frozen and EVERY joint and muscle in my body wants to go to warmer climate.
Lisa
It's cold here as well, worse yet, we're now just recovered from a flood! Lisa, I too feel like a trip to the warmer climate is in order.
It was 25° here this am. The bird baths were frozen and my hands wanted a warmer climate. I feel your pain Lisa. ☺ The GH heater manged to keep it at 36°. But the sun is on it now and it's 55°. The outside temp is 34°. Supposed to be even colder tomorrow night.
lily_love while you were on this thread I was asking you a question on a butterfly thread. Come summer I will be complaining about the heat. Last summer we went to Alaska and next summer we are thinking of going to Greenland/Iceland. I'm not even that old but I have a muscle condition and between the cold and the fronts I even have trouble walking. (no more complaining). People ask me what is wrong I tell them rigor mortise is setting in!
ROFL, 'rigor mortise is setting in'! I don't mean to laugh, pain is no laughing matter. But, I like your sense of humor about it.
I hope you get to feel better, it has got to be tough! In regard to trips to cooler regions in the summer, Alaska I've heard is a beautiful place to visit. Greenland/Iceland I'm not familiar with, but one of my girls has mentioned that she'd like to make a trip there in the near future. :-)
I just discovered this thread and I'm not even going to pretend that I've read through it all although I should b/c I'm always wondering what to do! Last night my thermometer read 28 degrees at 5:45 am. I think it reached freezing at 2:00 a.m, so I would say at least 6 hrs. of freezing temps.
I tried ice as a protective measure last night with mixed results. We had a very mild ice storm a couple of years ago and nothing froze. I tried to replicate that thin layer of ice, but I didn't quite get it thick enough. Still, the only things that appear to have freeze damage are some of the bananas and the split leaf philodandrum. The brugs look unhappy but OK. Same with the pentas. The begonias could go either way. Some plants that always freeze look great though like the dutchman's pipevine, passionflower and some others that I don't know the name of.
Weird thing though is that I didn't do anything in the front yard which faces south and nothing froze, not even a succulent that I left outside by accident. That happens every year though. The front yard seems to be significantly warmer than the backyard even though the front is more exposed.
I think that should be a quote "you know it's cold when you use ice for insulation."
Elphaba, I'll bet the soil in the front yard is warmer. It got down to 27ºF here. There was some wind earlier in the evening, but calmed down later. You're right about the protective quality of ice, but getting that thick layer requires automation otherwise you risk hypothermia. Last year's ice storm even kept tender plants safe without any damage. The three Brugs I have planted in the ground are covered right and will remain covered until Sunday. The temperatures should be above 40 Friday and Saturday nights, but I won't be here to uncover then. The two Jaime Brugs have lost their leaves, but the little stalks are still fine — they both still about 1' high so they are wrapped in burlap, then bubble wrap and have big plastic tubs inverted over them. All though I've covered the taller Brug, It's suffered more damage, but at least the "Y" is still OK. Some of my other tender perennials have frozen down to the ground.
Our crazy dog was in her doghouse this morning, but she was running around with the cows late last night. She has a wonderful down undercoat. She could go into the barn, but generally doesn't.
I wondered if I should have tried turning on the sprinkler but then I thought I might get the ice too thick and it would break the plants. Covering stuff has never worked that well for me. The philo that has freeze damage is actually less damaged than it was last year when I covered it with sheets and then tented plastic over it. Should have been like a darn greenhouse, but it froze anyway. This time some of the leaves and the new growth seem undamaged. They might be dead tomorrow though.
The brugs seem to respond to a freeze by growing twice as fast and as full! I'm not too worried about them although I think I may have done the hypothermia thing to the shredded white one. It'll be OK though but will probably lose some leaves.
Way back in 1981 I was living in Tampa Fl. My neighbor put on her sprinklers when we were expecting a freeze and left it on all night. It was a regular winter wonderland when we all woke up the next morning. Everything was covered in ice and some really big icicles on a lot of things. It was a hoot. She didn't lose anything either.
I checked everything today that was covered with sheets and they look real good. I also watered it all today to help them through the next two nights. Right now we are up to 60°. Go figure.
LOL We're up to 65ºF. My little greenhouse always has real wild fluxuations in temperatures. It's up to 85ºF right now. Those poor plants go from one temperature extreme to the other. The little house is too small to heat with a propane heater. I have an electric heater in there. On a very cold night, it barely stays about 5ºF warmer in there.
My GH is 6x8 and is full. It suffers wild flucuations too. I had to open the door today to bring the temp out of the 80's. Poor plants, 36° at night, 86° in the day. Five degrees is better than nothing Veronica.
We're supposed to be 28° tonight. I've got everything covered and or sheltered once again. At least the sun is shining. I'm thankful for that. One thing I found curious though is that the birds weren't frantic in their eating. I actually had seed left over this afternoon. Normally when it's going to be cold they are hitting my feeders hard and I have to go out around 3pm anf put out more.
The forecast for the next 5 nights is for near freezing tempertures. I don't have a bird feeder set up, but my persimmon tree has turned into a feeder. It is supporting a flock of cardinals and one woodpecker. LOL!
Persimmons huh? Natural feeders, the best really.
We didn't get near as cold as predicted. At 6:30 this am it was 32°. A far cry from the 28° forecasted. Thank God. The GH was a toasty 46°. The temp was 34° by 8am and now is 44°. I kind of figured since the birds weren't eating heavily yesterday. I trust the birds more. So far today they aren't attacking the feeders. Traffic is normal. We'll see as the day progresses. They are predicting 25° for tonight. I hope this means it won't be that cold.
We are supposed to have lows in the upper 30's and 40's thru next Wed. Of course that is as solid as smoke.
Our low........."We're having a heat waaave, a tropical heat wave..." Hum that little tune....32°! Sweet......seven degrees warmer than predicted. I am so grateful. We're in for a warm up now for about five days. All my plants have survuved yet another threat. Yippee!
There have been a couple threads started recently about this subect so I thought it might be a good idea to bump this one.
Lisa
It got down to 29.7° last night...way too cold. But I'd already brought the seedlings in for the night before, which didn't as cold as last night.
We got down to 28° last night. Five degrees colder than Sat night. But the warm up is coming tomorrow. I have had the heater on in the GH for the last two nights and probably will tonight just to be safe. I would hate to damage anything so close to spring. I covered the clems because they are loaded with new growth. Everything else seems to be fine.
Just looking for tomorrow.
Yes, we just finished taking the plants out again, probably the 20th time this fall and winter.
I am really going to try to not have so many small plants in pots come fall, I am very tired of this game.
Josephine.